Nord Stream 2 Over 95% Complete, Construction Legality Rules Out Disuse - Russia's Novak

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2021) Russia is certain that the Nord Stream 2 gas project will be completed and used, given the 95-percent readiness of the pipeline and the lawfulness of its construction, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

"Gazprom created a joint venture that has now essentially implemented more than 95 percent of Nord Stream 2," Novak told the Rossiya 1 television channel, adding that Russia "is sure that despite the destructive approaches exercised by the United States, which ... protracts the project's completion, it will be built."

Gazprom's joint venture is with European companies which, Novak said, have the interest to import gas from Russia.

Asked to comment on the risks associated with the pipeline's possible non-use after the completion, the Russian official replied "I do not think there are any such risks exactly, because of, again, the interest of our European partners, as well as because this project is fully compliant with the European legislation.

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Novak argued that the United States tried to hinder the project in order to make room for the export of its own liquefied natural gas to the European market, slamming it as "non-market methods of competition."

Nord Stream 2 is a massive offshore pipeline designed to pump Russian gas to Germany across the Baltic Sea. The United States long criticized the project and threatened it with sanctions, including collaterally, for example, by sanctioning companies which work on the pipeline's construction.